COMMUNITY FORUM

Reading foundation crack.

I'm looking at this 13 year old house that has a slightly angled vertical foundation crack. It starts from the upper right corner of the exterior basement door. The wall around the door is part of the foundation. The gap is wider toward the bottom. Does that indicate the house is too heavy for the foundation? Do cracks continue to develop or worsen after 13 years?

Hmm, I have to take guesses here. My knowledge in construction is limited. The foundation is concrete. As to which type, I don't know. Not sure about the soil. This house is located on a slope. Since the shape of the crack is an upside down "V", I don't think it's caused by the slope. The crack is at the exterior of foundation wall.

Can we take a best guess based on the crack? i.e. direction, shape and size of the crack.